The invention relates to a corridor indicator lamp.
Corridor indicator lamps may be used indoor or outdoor to either provide information to passers-by or personnel. The information provided may concern directions or the state of a room or corridor, such as its occupancy, availability or accessibility, or requests of occupants of a room, such as patients and their condition.
To provide information, for example information pertaining to several different rooms, or to display different states of one or more rooms, the corridor indicator lamp may be provided with compartments, wherein each compartment may be shielded with respect to a neighboring compartment by a preferably opaque separator wall. At least one socket or at least one light source, which may be connected to the socket, is associated with each compartment. Providing energy to the socket and/or the light source illuminates the compartment and thus the information associated with that compartment.
The information may be applied as a masking, e.g. a lettering directly on an at least partly transparent cover of the corridor indicator lamp or provided on a foil inside or outside the cover. Alternatively or additionally, the mere switching on or off of the light source in a compartment may present the information to be conveyed by the respective compartment. For example, switching on a light source in a compartment may indicate that a room associated with this compartment is occupied. Further, if light sources or different colors are associated with each compartment, or a single light source capable to display various colors are used, the color of the illumination of the compartment may also be used to convey information to an observer.
There is a problem, however, in that the corridor indicator lamp may not have enough visibility e.g. at curved corridors, in areas of exposed brickworks or doors, or at wall projections, and in such a situation, can be overlooked as it is blocked from view.
This problem is solved according to the invention by providing a corridor indicator lamp comprising a base assembly, the base assembly including a plurality of compartments, which are open towards a front side of the corridor indicator lamp, and preferably also laterally, further including a plurality of preferably opaque separator walls, at least some of the plurality of compartments being separated from each other by at least some of the plurality of separator walls, wherein the corridor indicator lamp further comprises an extension unit, which is configured to be mounted to the base assembly and which has a plurality of extension walls, which, in a position where the extension unit is mounted to the base assembly, extend at least one of the plurality of the compartments in a direction pointing away from the base assembly, the corridor indicator lamp further comprising an at least partly transparent cover, the cover being configured to receive the extension unit.
This solution has the advantage of providing a base assembly, which already comprises compartments, and may be used without the extension unit e.g. on level walls, where it cannot be concealed by wall projections or architraves. In situations, where visibility is impaired by e.g. curved corridors, door frames, other equipment mounted to the wall or wall projections, the extension unit may be used. By enlarging the compartments of the base unit in a direction facing away from the base unit, visibility is extended to a greater distance from the wall.
The same advantage is obtained by a set for assembling a corridor indicator lamp, where the set comprises a base assembly and the base assembly includes a plurality of compartments, which are open towards a front side of the corridor indicator lamp, and a plurality of separator walls, where at least some of the plurality of compartments are separated from each other by at least some of the plurality of separator walls. The set may further comprise an extension unit having a plurality of extension walls, and a first and a second at least partly transparent cover, wherein the first at least partly transparent cover is configured to receive the extension unit and the first and the second at least partly transparent cover are configured to be mounted, preferably alternatively, to the base assembly, and wherein the first at least partly transparent cover protrudes at a greater height from the base assembly than the second at least partly transparent cover.
Such a set results in a corridor indicator lamp, which can be adapted in its height to the requirements at the specific location, where it is to be mounted. If the location provides good visibility for the corridor indicator lamp, the flat cover may be used. At a location, which is partly shielded from view, the second cover may be used together with the extension unit.
Finally, it is also provided according to the invention, that existing lamps may be retrofitted with an extension kit which is configured to be mounted to a corridor indicator lamp having at least two compartments associated with different light sockets, the retrofit kit comprising an extension unit, which includes a plurality of extension walls, extending substantially parallel to each other and being adapted to enlarge the compartments of the corridor indicator lamp.
By means of such a retrofit kit, the visibility of existing corridor indicator lamps may be improved.
The solution according to the invention may he amended by independently adding further features, as is explained in the following.
For example, the base assembly may comprise a plurality of sockets, which are each adapted to receive a light source such as an LED, a light bulb, a neon lamp, or a florescent tube. Each of the compartments may comprise at least one of the plurality of sockets. In order to achieve a uniform illumination of the compartment, a plurality of sockets in each compartment may be preferred, especially if the compartment is significantly larger than a single light source.
If at least some of the extension walls are provided with at least one predetermined breaking line, the versatility of the extension unit may be increased further. The extension wall may be broken off at the least one predetermined breaking line so that the two compartments that were previously separated by the extension wall are now combined. Preferably, the at least one predetermined breaking line is located at, adjacent to, or in a base of the extension wall, the base being situated opposite a free end of the extension wall, towards the base assembly. This configuration allows to break off as much of the extension wall as possible and thus to achieve a more uniform distribution of light within a combined compartment. Further, several predetermined breaking lines may be provided at different distances from the base, so that various levels of shielding can be maintained between the compartments depending on where the extension wall has been broken off.
At least one, preferably some, or all of the plurality of separator walls may be parallel to at least one, some, or all of the plurality of extension walls. Thus, the geometry of the compartments as defined by the base assembly may be continued linearly by the extension unit.
In order to both secure the extension unit on the base assembly and to provide a light-impermeable connection between the extension unit and the base assembly, the extension unit may comprise at least one pocket which is configured to receive at least parts of one of the plurality of separator walls. Thus, the separator wall may extend into the pocket, once the extension unit has been mounted to the base assembly.
The pocket may comprise two parallel walls spaced apart from each other. The spacing between the two parallel walls may correspond to the thickness of the associated separator wall. In this, the associated separator wall is the one of the plurality of separator walls which is received in the pocket when the extension unit is mounted to the base assembly.
At least one, preferably some, most preferably all of the extension walls are aligned with at least one, some, or all of the plurality of pockets and may, in particular, be co-planar to the pockets. This configuration ensures that the compartments are continued parallel to each other.
According to another aspect of the invention, the pocket may cover only a part of the associated separator wall. The part which is covered by the pocket may, in particular, be situated in a center of the corridor indicator lamp.
At least one, some, or all of the plurality of extension walls may extend from one of the plurality of pockets. Thus, the pockets may serve as the base of the extension walls for stiffening and light-shielding purposes.
The at least one predetermined breaking line may be located between at least one, some, or all of the plurality of extension walls and an associated pocket. Herein, the associated pocket is the one of the plurality of pockets from which the extension wall extends and/or which forms the base of the extension wall.
At least one, some, or all of the separator walls and/or at least one, some, or all of the extension walls may have a convexly curved free end and thus may be shaped as an arch extending in a width direction of the corridor indicator lamp. The covers may be correspondingly curved. Using such a curvature ensures good recognizability and readability of any markings of a compartment. The free end of the at least one, some, or all of the plurality of extension walls may have a larger curvature, i.e. may be arched more strongly than the free end of the separator wall.
At least one, some or all of the plurality of extension walls may be provided with at least one cutout which is shaped complementary to an associated one of the plurality of separator walls. In particular, the cutout may be arched, if the separator wall is arched also. The associated separator wall is that separator wall which is extended by the extension wall once the extension unit has been mounted to the base assembly. Using a complementarily shaped cutout, in which the extension wall most preferably snugly fits, reduces leakage of light from one compartment to the other.
To allow for maintenance or repair work in particular of the at least one light source within a compartment, the extension unit is preferably configured to be releasably mounted to the base assembly. It is further preferred that the fixation of the extension unit to the base assembly can be effected without tools. For this, the extension unit may comprise locking elements, such as latches or clips, and, in general, may be configured to be clicked or locked to the base assembly.
The extension unit may comprise a cage-like holding structure. The extension walls and, if present, the pockets, may extend perpendicular from the holding structure. If pockets are used to receive the separator walls, their walls may serve as an immediate support from the extension walls. The holding structure may be provided with at least one opening per compartment. The opening should be aligned with a socket of the base assembly once the extension unit is mounted to the base assembly, to allow a light source to extend through the opening. In one particular embodiment, the holding structure may comprise a series of U-shaped brackets that are connected to each other at their adjacent legs. Between the adjacent legs of neighboring brackets, a pocket as described above may be formed. Each bracket may define one compartment.
Furthermore, an at least partly transparent cover may be provided, which is adapted to receive the extension unit. The extension unit and the cover may be configured to be fixed, preferably releasably, onto one another, for example by clips and/or latches, in order to form a preassembled cover unit which is then mounted to the base assembly. Thereby, the cover receiving the extension unit may use fixation elements that are otherwise used for a smaller cover of lesser height, which is used instead of the cover adapted to the extension unit, if visibility of the corridor indicator lamp is not impaired at its location at the wall.
One, some, or all of the plurality of the extension walls may rest at least partly on the cover. This not only minimizes the bleeding of light from one compartment to the other, but allows also the fixation of a foil between the extension wall and the cover. The foil may be provided with markings which are visible from outside the cover and be illuminated from the at least one light source in the compartment.
In cases where the increased height of the corridor indicator lamp with the indicator unit and the associated cover is still not sufficient, an elevation socket may be provided which is configured to be attached to the base assembly preferably on a side opposite the plurality of separator walls and/or the extension unit respectively.
In addition to the elevation socket and the base assembly, a mounting frame may be provided, which is configured to be mounted to a wall e.g. by providing holes for wall-mounting screws. The elevation socket and the mounting frame may be configured to use the same fixation elements provided on the base assembly. The elevation socket may provide the same fixation elements on one of its sides as the base assembly, thus allowing the mounting frame to be mounted to the elevation socket in the same manner as to the base assembly.
A set comprising the two light covers, the extension unit, the base assembly, the elevation socket and the mounting frame results in a corridor indicator lamp which can be configured to achieve excellent visibility independent of the situation at the location where the indicator lamp is to be mounted on a wall.
In the following, the invention is exemplarily described by means of an embodiment which is also shown schematically in the accompanying figures. In the figures, the same reference numerals are used for elements, which are identical or similar in at least one of function and design. It will be understood that the particular method and device embodying the invention are shown by way of illustration and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.